DACA recipient told he's now cleared with ICE, can stay in the U.S.

On Tuesday night, President Donald Trump said that he is open to "real and positive immigration reform." He told a group of television news anchors he would be open to granting legal status to millions of undocumented immigrants living in the U.S.

That would be welcome news for a young man who was nearly deported earlier this month.

"I learned that I wasn't as safe as I thought I was," Josue Romero said.

Romero told KENS 5 that he’s been slowly getting back to his normal routine going to school and work. That routine that was shaken up days ago when he was on the verge of deportation and, as he said, life as he knows it and his dreams of being an artist would have been shattered.

"I wouldn't have access to the same kind of opportunities," he said. "I wouldn't have schools or studios, and there's no place for art in those worlds."

Romero is covered under a Deferred Action program launched by the Obama Administration, or DACA. He was taken into custody on a Class B misdemeanor charge of marijuana possession on Valentine's Day in San Antonio, then, while he was at the Bexar County Jail, he was handed over to federal immigration officials.

Romero still faces the marijuana charge but, as of Saturday, he said his case with ICE has been dropped.

Still, he avoids driving and asks others for rides. He says that he keeps himself in check by never staying out too late.

"Now, being that this has actually happened, that I have lived through the situation, I realize now how risky it is, how at risk we are all the time," he said.

As for President Trump's announcement of a major immigration shift, Romero said that he'll take that with a grain of salt. Still, it makes him hopeful.

"This is a weird step for the admin. As of now, they've just kind of been completely aggressive and completely attacking the immigrant community," he said. "It's very hopeful and it gets me kind of excited."